Riverview Cars Ltd: Won't honour their promise of deposit refund

arcon5

evilgiraf wrote: »

Just a quick additional question after reading a template letter;
Would it be reasonable to ask for additional costs i.e. the not insignificant fuel cost of either the round trip or one way?

It's not clear to me whether this would be considered an incurred cost; I would not have made the journey had I known the correct details of the vehicle beforehand, however, I would have had to make the journey to inspect the vehicle if all had been correct.

Many thanks again.

You could try -- but your just gonna cause more problems if you ask me.

I think you got off lucky anyway tbh, you have tangible evidence that they have promised to refund the deposit. There's alot of threads about about people who have lost deposits because of underhand tactics.

Although personally I would never put down a deposit unless I had seen the product. I'd rather run the (low) risk of it have been told when I turn up a few days later.

Financiallystupid

I have also been stupid placing a deposit in good faith on what I perceived to be an honest company selling quality cars. I travelled for 4 hours and was expecting an honest car but I found that the car was not as described and had damage to the bodywork and parts missing.

The garage was hoping that my travelling time and my deposit would encourage stupidity on my part....I was already stupid trusting these people with my financial details ..... a Lady( I have used that term loosely) Wrote my card details down ( she had to find a pen) why did I give my details!!! Because I am stupid.....The amazing thing is I have been looking for a car at the bottom end of the market you could describe it as gutter filtering and I have encountered various levels of humanity from the low to undiscribable. My £100 pounds was a lesson to me in naivety( I think that is a word ).The Law is not protecting people from the unscrupulous and never will, The government is a partner in crime because they receive taxes on crime.... These vehicles are advertised at competitive prices to encourage viewings and deposits and perhaps the best course of action would be to advise your MP.

I am not particularly religious but I hope that these people get their just deserts.

Just as a point of Interest after I started looking at the negative points on the vehicle the blonde lady developed an attitude and the friendly garage became a den of criminality where it was probably safer to leave without making to much fuss.....the lies and unfriendly was evident.

On returning home and breathing a breath of honest air I contacted my bank and explained what happened and my card was cancelled and I was told that I could claim my £100 from the bank after 31 days.

arcon5

Financiallystupid wrote: »

I have also been stupid placing a deposit in good faith on what I perceived to be an honest company selling quality cars. I travelled for 4 hours and was expecting an honest car but I found that the car was not as described and had damage to the bodywork and parts missing.

The garage was hoping that my travelling time and my deposit would encourage stupidity on my part....I was already stupid trusting these people with my financial details ..... a Lady( I have used that term loosely) Wrote my card details down ( she had to find a pen) why did I give my details!!! Because I am stupid.....The amazing thing is I have been looking for a car at the bottom end of the market you could describe it as gutter filtering and I have encountered various levels of humanity from the low to undiscribable. My £100 pounds was a lesson to me in naivety( I think that is a word ).The Law is not protecting people from the unscrupulous and never will, The government is a partner in crime because they receive taxes on crime.... These vehicles are advertised at competitive prices to encourage viewings and deposits and perhaps the best course of action would be to advise your MP.

I am not particularly religious but I hope that these people get their just deserts.

Just as a point of Interest after I started looking at the negative points on the vehicle the blonde lady developed an attitude and the friendly garage became a den of criminality where it was probably safer to leave without making to much fuss.....the lies and unfriendly was evident.

On returning home and breathing a breath of honest air I contacted my bank and explained what happened and my card was cancelled and I was told that I could claim my £100 from the bank after 31 days.

You can't seriously think that?

sales of goods act 1979
sales of goods and services act 1982
trade descriptions act 1968
unfair terms act 1999
consumer (distance) protection regulations [which some points of imo are not fair on the retailer.]

then you have all sorts of legislation depending on the type of transaction/industry:
landlord and tenants act 1995
consumer credit act (which is commonly referred to section 75 for protection of >£100 when using CC)
copyright designs and patens act 1988

[the list goes on]

Moneyclaim.gov : you can file a claim for as litle as £35

Let alone schemes suchas the chargeback scheme in place (which you are using) to protect consumers; fraud act 2006; ect; ect.

There is plenty of protection out there. But if sellers aren't abiding by them what can you do? well.. the are a bunch of routes to enforce your rights (albeit a small percentage work the system successfully) whether by reporting them to OFT to be investigated or recovering money via statutory demand or obtaining a CCJ and paying for court appointed baliffs.
A large proportion of cases are settled without the need to visit courts (whether via the thread of court or debt collection agencies), a large proportion settled within 30 days of the court judgement, then you have the proportion that are resolved through the need of baliffs or attachment of earnings, then obviously a small portion are legitmate business gone bust followed by the scumbags who have played the system.


So all in all, you have not been ripped off by this company as you will recover the money through the bank, so a happy ending to a sad story.

evilgiraf

evilgiraf wrote: »

Thank you for all of your support! :beer:

I will write the letter tomorrow and send it off ASAP: I will update the thread with any progress and hopefully others can benefit from the advice.

Thanks again

Unsurprisingly I have not received a response to my letter and so have now contacted Consumer Direct. I hope that they will be able to advise the best course of action.

I would be grateful to hear any thoughts on this from MSE's.

Many thanks!

bod1467

Did you send this as a Letter Before Action? (And explicitly reference it as such)? If yes then your next step is to raise a claim e.g. via Money Claim Online (https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome).

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/Makingacourtclaimformoney/DG_195688 is worth reading too.

evilgiraf

The letter I sent was based on the template refund letter from MSE and I referred to the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended).
In it I requested the refund of £100 and stated that I would seek advice if no response was received within 7 working days of receipt of my letter.

I am inclined to send a further letter this week stating that I will be proceeding with a claim but first I need to know what is my best course of action:
Both MoneyClaim and DirectGov websites suggest that Court action is a last resort. The costs involved in hiring a mediator or solicitor are proportional to the sum I am trying to have refunded and therefore prohibitive.
Are there any other reasonable steps I should take before filing a court action/claim.

Also, I wonder whether anyone can estimate the cost for raising a MoneyClaim and can I include this as part of my claim against Riverview Cars?

Many thanks again to all.

arcon5

It probably means court should be a last resort as you should exhaust their formal complains procedure first.

Cost costs:
filing fee: £35
hearing fee (if it gets that far): £55

Send them a Letter Before Action stating explicitly your filing court proceedings (rather than you will seek advice to take it further). Then just file.

bod1467

<snip> Arcon5 posted whilst I was typing.

somethingcorporate

<far too slow today>

Rebrabuk

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but i visited this place yesterday and just wanted to add my experience;

Having seen a car advertised on AutoTrader/AdTrader, i turned up yesterday afternoon (unannounced) to have a look at it and inspect it prior to purchasing on behalf of my partner.

Upon arrival i had a glance around the outside of the car, before being approached by a woman who asked if everything was alright. I responded by letting her know that i was just having a look over the car but would give her a shout if i needed any assistance.

Noticing that the car was unlocked, i then looked at the interior and browsed through the documentation present in the glovebox. At this stage, i was approached by a man (who despite looking quite scruffy, probably owned the garage) and he asked if everything was alright. I explained that i was just inspecting the car as my partner was interested in purchasing, if that was ok and i would give him a shout if i required assistance.

Taking the inspection a step further i went under the bonnett, then had a look under the rear of the car when the man returned again. The conversation went as follows;
Man: 'Is everything ok?'
Me: 'So far yes, still just looking'
Man: 'Actually i'd prefer it if you didn't'
Me: 'Sorry?'
Man: 'I don't want you looking at the car like that'
Me: 'Oh well, if you're sure'
Man: 'Yes, just leave'

Not another word was spoken as i walked away.

To this point, i don't think i did anything unreasonable and remain puzzled as to why i was asked to leave. The only conclusion i can make is that something was not right with the car and i was on the verge of identifying it, so rather than allowing any awkward questioning to commence, i was quietly moved off the premises for the next unsuspecting customer to turn up and buy the vehicle.

For reference, the car was a '05 Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi, priced at £3299.